True Communities

My latest video is live! It showcases the cycling infrastructure on Northfield Drive and its seamless connection to Forwell Trail, an integral part of the City of Waterloo's #WaterLoop. youtu.be/tMl87gMohaM #CyclingInfrastructure #BikePaths #BikePaths #Stroad

This is a sensible decision. Testing of the western extension needs to continue and moving them by road back to Belfast Yard would be costly. cbc.ca/news/canada/ot…

Small cities shouldn't mean small thinking about local services, so it is good to see Cornwall's mayor taking the lead on providing 7 days a week transit service. standard-freeholder.com/news/strong-ma…

In Japan the train company owns the land and when the government asked them to elevate their lines to avoid level crossings they were happy too do it because they could make more money renting the space underneath than they did collecting fares.

As Alberta embarks on their own provincial rail plan, there are a lot of lessons to be learned about not doing what Metrolinx does. @ABDanielleSmith @DevinDVote #yyc #yeg

I wanted to not have to write about metrolinx cocking up GO plans in a huge way again, and yet here I am on Thursday night typing away

@EmilyFarina5 @TransportAction We can do both, frequency and high-speed rail. I think both are needed but it could be said that frequency and cheaper rail tickets are needed even more.

@TransportAction The former federal transport minister racked up a pile of PR mileage from his SW Ontario high frequency rail plan — but it was later abandoned in favour of the more expensive but truncated ALTO high-speed train corridor.

The handful of trains serving SW Ontario are often full or crowded, better service is needed immediately. The slow pace of action by both levels of government is costing the region jobs and opportunities. lfpress.com/opinion/column…

The failed P3 for GO train operations is casting a long shadow, especially in maintenance talent development and retention. thetrillium.ca/news/municipal…

@sr_the_czar @EricDLombardi Even Montréal-styled multiplexes would be better.

@EricDLombardi Build a gondola from the Don Valley to the islands, and triple the number of residents on there by swapping all the SFHs for euro style apartments

I recognize there is substantial anger regarding Ford’s ad-hoc nonsense at Toronto’s waterfront. But it’s worth saying the space for Ford’s antics exists because of Toronto’s inability to put forward a real vision for the future of its own waterfront. This has made me angry for a long time. There is no city of Toronto’s size on earth with the kind of opportunity it has, and we’ve been wasting it. The reaction of the center and left cannot simply be “No”. Heck, even agencies like Waterfront Toronto can’t commit to building out the Portlands in less than 50 years. Shenzhen was built in half the time! Totally inadequate. So Ford is announcing a bunch of random ad-hoc ideas in a small vision for the future. What we really need is a vision and plan that ties together the following places. 1) Exhibition and Ontario Place 2) Toronto Island, including Billy Bishop 3) The Toronto Port Lands 4) East Harbour Transit Hub 5) Major Downtown Opportunities I think there would be tremendous civic interest in a compete vision that ties all of this together. - Commercial Centers - Cultural Attractions - Transit & Mobility - Housing and Urbanism So, as a matter of personal interest (and not just for my campaign), I would like to advance initial thinking for a bigger, alternative vision. If this is something of interest to you, please get in touch!

@TransportAction Yes, not all segments of the 401 have that but certain segments could be used, right?

@TrueCommunities Given a very wide median sufficient for additional shoulder and safety barriers as well as the railway, 7km+ curve radius, and interchanges designed to protect for future construction, HSR can be added without totally rebuilding the highway. Highway 401 has none of those things.

Could HSR be built down the median of 401? No. Could HSR be built alongside CN? Not reasonably. Those ideas are not novel. They've been considered and ruled out by professional engineers over the past decade. Do we need to keep HSR costs down? Absolutely. thewhig.com/news/changes-t…

This project has crept back onto the radar, but without any improvement in the proposal. It would still require a significant runway extension into the lake and add a lot of noise to the waterfront. Better intercity rail is needed instead. thestar.com/politics/provi…

This corridor is the strongest in Canada for major rail investment. We need HFR to feed the system. Upgrading existing lines improves regional connectivity, while high-speed rail delivers the long-distance capacity and speed we actually need. They’re two parts of the same system.

@TransportAction This corridor is the strongest in Canada for major rail investment. We need HFR to feed the system. Upgrading existing lines improves regional connectivity, while high-speed rail delivers the long-distance capacity and speed we actually need. They’re two parts of the same system.

✅We need improvements to the existing VIA Rail service, including more service to Brockville, as promised since HFR was proposed in 2015. ❌HSR in the 401 corridor has been rejected before, and wouldn't stop in small cities like Brockville at all. recorder.ca/news/brockvill…

This is welcome news! Every rural community in Canada should have accessible transit for everyone who needs it. kincardinenews.com/news/local-new…

The City of Toronto approved six-storey units on major roads. But bureaucracy is still killing these projects. I was so mad about this article, I had to rant about it. I can't believe councillors are still fighting for "neighbourhood character" in 2026. thestar.com/news/gta/six-s…

We need to talk about what is causing this construction cost madness, where building a streetcar/surface LRT costs more than a fully tunneled subway with deep stations 20 years ago (inflation adjusted), and what we need to do to fix it. 5/5

When it costs $600 million to build a station at King-Liberty, over $1 billion to build East Harbour GO, and nearly $400 million to build Finch-Kennedy GO (which doesn't include the cost of separating the rail line from traffic), it'll be hard to build these much needed stations.

The story here isn't about the legacy of SmartTrack, it's that our transit agencies are incapable of building anything at reasonable costs. More GO stations in Toronto are needed, and should in theory be relatively simple and cheap to construct. 3/5

GO Expansion is a massive project, turning GO from 905 commuter shuttles to 5 regional subway style lines. In order for this project to have the maximum benefits, new stations in the city of Toronto need to be constructed. Construction costs are hurting our ability to do so. 2/5